Apart from humans and animals, trees and forests also have a very important contribution in maintaining ecological balance. In fact, forests are the natural habitat for many species of animals as well as a source of food. Oxygen is the most essential element for life on earth. It is the forests on earth which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in large quantities and convert it into oxygen. Forests provide rainfall, control temperature, prevent soil erosion and protect biodiversity.They are helpful in preserving and in fact the biodiversity found on earth is due to forests. Forests play an important role in controlling the earth's temperature. However, due to indiscriminate deforestation across the world, the forests on Earth and the habitats of the animals living in them have reduced significantly. Due to the fires that occur every year, millions of hectares of forest and many species of animals are destroyed. According to a United Nations report, about one billion acres of forest area has been lost worldwide in the last three decades.R has been destroyed. Till a few decades ago, about fifty percent of the earth's land area was covered by forests, now it is reduced to only thirty percent. If forests continue to be destroyed at this pace, it will decrease further. According to environmental experts, decreasing number of forests will have a direct impact on biodiversity. While this will have a deep impact on the water cycle, soil conservation and biosphere in the times to come, there will also be a threat to the habitat of animals and the irregular weather will have dire consequences. Due to indiscriminate cutting of forests on earth,Along with 'global warming' the intensity of natural disasters is continuously increasing. Forests act like the lungs of the earth, which absorb pollutant gases like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ammonia, ozone etc. from the atmosphere and release vital air into the atmosphere. This is the reason why 'International Forest Day' or 'World Forestry Day' is celebrated every year at the global level with the aim of making people aware of the importance of forests, getting society's contribution for their conservation and promoting tree plantation.Is. For this, a theme is determined every year by the United Nations General Assembly, which is chosen by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. This year its theme has been set as 'Forest and Innovation'. This theme highlights the important role of technology and creative approaches in protecting, managing and restoring forests and places special emphasis on the important role played by innovation. If we look at the contents from the beginning till now, between 2014 and 2021 the international forestThe themes of the day are 'Our Forests, Our Future', 'Forests, Climate Change', 'Forests and Water', 'Forests and Energy', 'Forests and Cities', 'Forests and Education', 'Forests and Biodiversity' respectively. ', 'Forest Restoration: Pathway to Recovery and Well-Being' and 'Forests and Sustainable Production and Consumption' have been put forward. India mainly has evergreen forests, mangrove forests, coniferous forests, deciduous forests, temperate forests. Evergreen forests are also called rain forests, which are found in high rainfall areas in India like the Western Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and North-East India.Are. In these areas, trees grow together and form such a roof that sunlight cannot reach the ground and hence a large number of trees and plants grow on the ground. Mangrove forests grow in deltaic areas and along the banks of rivers and grow easily in salty and fresh water along with soil carried by the rivers. Coniferous forests with fairly straight and tall trees with pointed leaves are found mostly in low temperature areas such as the Himalayan Mountains. of these treesThe branches are inclined downwards, so snow cannot remain on their branches. Deciduous forests are found in areas with moderate rainfall, where rainfall occurs only for a few months. When monsoon arrives, when there is heavy rain and sunlight reaches the ground, these forests grow rapidly and they grow densely during the monsoon itself. The leaves of these trees fall during summer and winter seasons and new leaves start growing on them in the month of Chaitra. Plants like date palm, cactus, hawthorn and small, thick and waxy plants.Thorny forests with thick leaves are found in areas with low moisture, whose fibrous roots are deeply embedded in the soil. In these forests, thorny trees are located far apart, which conserve water. Tropical forests are found near the equator, while temperate forests are found at medium altitudes and boreal forests near the poles. Since 1987, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate publishes a report every two years taking stock of the status of forests and trees in the country. After 2019 in 2022In the 'Seventeenth India Forest Status Report 2021' released by the Ministry, it was said that the area of forest and tree covered land across the country would increase by 2261 square kilometers in the two years between 2019 and 2021. Although an increase of 5188 square kilometers was recorded in forest and tree cover in 2019 as compared to 2017, in that respect the increase between 2019 and 2021 was quite less. According to the report, the forest covered area in the country has now reached 809537 square kilometers. According to the new survey report, now 24.6% of the total geographical area of the country2 percent of the land area is covered with forests and trees, whereas in the National Forest Policy - 1988, a target was set to cover 33 percent of the total land area of the country under forest cover, that is, we are still far away from the target. At the 2021 Glasgow Climate Conference, more than a hundred countries had pledged to impose a complete ban on deforestation by the year 2030. Due to indiscriminate deforestation and increasing pollution, many glaciers around the world are now on the verge of extinction and the threat of 'global warming' is continuously increasing, due to which in the last few yearsBig changes are being seen in the weather all over the world. This is the reason why the whole world has started feeling the dire need to unite and take meaningful initiatives to stop the destruction of forests.
—Vijay Garg
